As an evangelical pastor in Greeley, I share the frustration of Rep. Ken Buck regarding previous congressional inaction on immigration reform. Greeley is a diverse community in which hard-working immigrants play an important role, moving our economy forward.

We need to fix our current immigration system. It’s sad to see families separated and our communities divided. The current system has created a permanent underclass and affects people with and without documentation every day.

My hope is that Rep. Buck and other politicians who want to find middle ground on immigration can translate that desire into legislative action and not get lost in political limbo with the typical, partisan rhetoric.

Buck has the opportunity to lead on immigration reform and I applaud him and any legislator from either side of the political aisle who wants to ensure just, common-sense immigration reform that will benefit both immigrants and native-born citizens.

Abraham Torres,Greeley

This letter was published in the Jan. 13 edition.

Submit a letter to the editor via this form or check out our guidelines for how to submit by e-mail or mail.

The obstacle to immigration reform is not the path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants.

The U.S. Senate overwhelmingly passed a bipartisan bill that included a path to citizenship, supported by a historic coalition of business and labor, farmworkers and agricultural producers, evangelicals and Catholics.

Voters overwhelmingly support the bill. Colorado Republican voters support earned citizenship even more strongly than Democrats, when specifics are given (immigrants must pay a penalty, learn English, pass a criminal background check, pay taxes, and wait a minimum of 13 years), according to a November poll at renewoureconomy.org.

In January, House Speaker John Boehner introduced a plan without a path to citizenship.

Republican Sen. Ted Cruz and others still blasted it as “amnesty,” and opposition among House Republicans killed it within days. Among those who opposed Boehner’s plan: Our own Rep. Cory Gardner.

The U.S. House is the real obstacle to fixing our broken immigration system. We will continue fighting until we achieve true comprehensive immigration reform that includes a path to citizenship.

Patricia Robles, Denver

The writer is vice president of property services for the Service Employees International Union, Local 105.

This letter was published in the Dec. 2 edition.

Submit a letter to the editor via this form or check out our guidelines for how to submit by e-mail or mail.

Vivek Wadhwa’s column was spot-on, but it failed to discuss how important immigration reform is to the success of smaller employers. Small Business Majority’s polling shows small businesses believe our immigration system is broken and needs either a complete overhaul or major improvements. What’s more, 84 percent believe immigration is good for America, two-thirds think immigrant entrepreneurs drive business growth and 67 percent agree immigration reform will be good for small businesses.

Small Business Majority’s recently released Economic Agenda for America’s Future — a set of policy recommendations aimed at bolstering small business and the economy — calls for a number of immigration reforms small businesses support, including asking the president to take executive action to allow more legal immigrants, which would provide more skilled workers at all levels for small businesses. Actions like these help move the needle and grow our economy.

Tim Gaudette, Denver

The writer is Colorado outreach manager for Small Business Majority.

This letter was published in the Nov. 16 edition.

Submit a letter to the editor via this form or check out our guidelines for how to submit by e-mail or mail.

House Speaker John Boehner listens as President Obama speaks during a bipartisan luncheon last Thursday. (Jim Watson, Getty)

Instead of House Speaker John Boehner doing his tough-guy posturing with President Obama regarding a possible executive order on immigration, Boehner should take to task the House holdouts on the bipartisan immigration bill that the Senate approved and he pushed. He should tell that group, “Do not for a minute believe we have a full mandate here. If you want to keep us in control and heading for a win in 2016, we need to pass that immigration bill. Do not cost us what we just won or I can promise we will not do any compromising with you.” All Congress has to do is do their job by passing an immigration bill, and an executive order by the president is null and void.

Renee Farrar, Lakewood

This letter was published in the Nov. 10 edition.

Submit a letter to the editor via this form or check out our guidelines for how to submit by e-mail or mail.

Last Friday, Speaker of the House John Boehner and Majority Leader Eric Cantor visited Denver to raise funds for Rep. Mike Coffman, who is locked in a close race against Democrat Andrew Romanoff.

If Messrs. Boehner and Cantor really want to help Coffman’s re-election efforts, in my view the single most helpful thing they could do would be to ensure that immigration reform comes to a vote before the November election.

The significant majority of voters in the 6th Congressional District — including evangelical Christians like me, businesspeople, and Latino voters — want Congress to pass legislation that enables undocumented immigrants to come out of the shadows and earn the chance to stay lawfully in our country. If House Leadership will give Coffman the chance to prove he’s leading on this issue, he’s much more likely to earn the opportunity to continue representing us.

Gary VanderPol, Littleton

This letter was published in the May 19 edition.

For information on how to send a letter to the editor, click here. Follow eLetters on Twitter to receive updates about new letters to the editor when they’re posted.

Sen. Mark Udall urges the Republican House to pass amnesty, euphemistically labeling it “comprehensive reform.” He challenges, “Let’s have a vote,” claiming that would “fulfill our most basic constitutional obligation as a legislature.”

Each legislator takes an oath to support, defend and bear true allegiance to the Constitution, which begins with “We the People of the United States.” That is the constituency elected officials are duty-bound to represent, not persons present by illegal entry or visa overstays. Action on any other basis constitutes malfeasance, grounded in the logical impossibility that aliens, by their mere illegal presence, can override our laws and effectively assert a greater claim on rights and resources than the citizens themselves.

Principled action guided by the Constitution is the answer. Sen. Udall has yet to clearly and concisely grade his position in these terms.

I guess he is dropping the line about illegals coming here to do the jobs Americans won’t.

After all, it can’t be both.

The irony is, if we closed our borders to the cheap, unskilled labor that Republicans prefer, and the bonanza of voters the Democrats prefer, Americans might willingly do those jobs for wages that might then need to rise somewhere nearer the president’s preferred minimum of $10 an hour.

My own suggestion for reform is simpler than Udall’s:

Since immigrants are coming here for opportunity, then they will remain, or still come happily, if we limit reform to giving resident non-voting status to all those here who are not violent criminals.

And by all means, let DREAMers go to college at in-state rates. Their citizen children born here will be grateful their parents were given that opportunity, and we will all benefit.

Steve Baur, Westminster

This letter was published in the March 23 edition.

For information on how to send a letter to the editor, click here. Follow eLetters on Twitter to receive updates about new letters to the editor when they’re posted.

I attended the immigration debate at the Counterterrorism Education Learning Lab, and was glad the dialogue incorporated various perspectives on the need for immigration reform. I was disappointed that the panelists focused on the need for further internal and external enforcement of immigration policy.

We need to focus on solutions that protect all of our community members, not policies that further increase the already dangerous and costly conditions of the militarized southern border. Every day, 1,000 members of our communities and families are separated by unjust and inhumane immigration policy. We need immigration reform now that includes a pathway to citizenship for all of our community members.

Elizabeth Murphy, Denver

This letter was published in the Feb. 21 edition.

For information on how to send a letter to the editor, click here. Follow eLetters on Twitter to receive updates about new letters to the editor when they’re posted.

Antonio Ledezma, from Jalisco International, works on the new RTD Light Rail bridge project that will bring a commuter trains to Denver International Airport, on Jan. 8. Contractors are facing a crisis with a shortage of skilled workers and no immigration reform to help. (RJ Sangosti, The Denver Post)

The article about the dearth of laborers for the Jalisco road and bridge-building crews brings up, once again, the failure of Congress to pass immigration-reform measures. Tony Milo, executive director of the Colorado Contractors Association, says, “Reform would be the right thing to do, but politics are getting in the way.” It’s always Congress or politics that is at fault, but often the true culprit isn’t mentioned: Republican obstructionism. The entire Congress gets blamed when it’s really one party that is making things such as immigration reform impossible. Isn’t it likely, if not obvious, that if we had a Republican president, immigration reform would have passed awhile ago?

Cara Anderson, Boulder

This letter was published in the Jan. 16 edition.

It is true that congressional failure to address comprehensive immigration reform causes labor shortage problems, but that is just one way that the dysfunctional immigration system hurts our economy and communities. This broken system also destroys families, drives huge costs in enforcing bad laws, and shreds the promise of a fair and just American society.We don’t need more “guest workers” indentured to their employers. We must recognize immigrants for their contributions to our economy and communities by issuing more green cards, and welcoming them the same way — or better — that our forbears were.

Tom Kowal, Westminster

This letter was published in the Jan. 16 edition.

For information on how to send a letter to the editor, click here. Follow eLetters on Twitter to receive updates about new letters to the editor when they’re posted.

An man delivers speech during a memorial ceremony for late South African former president Nelson Mandela at the Moses-Mabhida Stadium in Durban, South Africa, on Dec.13. (Anesh Debikyanesh, AFP/Getty Images)

The life of Nelson Mandela and his quest for justice for millions of his oppressed countrymen in South Africa should remind us of the plight of millions of undocumented immigrants and their families in this country. These people are Americans in every way except on paper, yet live in conditions of discrimination and fear while awaiting congressional action to better their lives.

A measure to provide comprehensive immigration reform has passed the U.S. Senate, but has encountered Republican obstruction in the House of Representatives, where Speaker John Boehner refuses to allow a vote on pending bipartisan legislation which would provide a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants.

The public has a right to know where its representatives stand on this issue and should demand a House vote on an immigration bill which would protect family unity, promote social stability, and strengthen the nation’s economy.

Frank Tapy, Denver

This letter was published in the Dec. 16 edition.

For information on how to send a letter to the editor, click here. Follow eLetters on Twitter to receive updates about new letters to the editor when they’re posted.

Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet, left, speaks in front of a packed audience at the Brown Palace Hotel in Denver on Sunday during the 69th General Assembly of the Inter American Press Association with Tony Pederson of Southern Methodist University. (Helen H. Richardson, The Denver Post)

Sen. Michael Bennet says that “diverse groups … need to come together” to pass immigration reform, and he’s right. Real reform would benefit all Americans, not just a single party, which is why a bipartisan group of senators passed an imperfect but common-sense immigration bill in June. But since then, it hasn’t gone anywhere.

As an immigration attorney who works on behalf of others, I can’t help but wonder what our representatives are doing for us. Reps. Scott Tipton, Cory Gardner, Doug Lamborn and Mike Coffman need to tell House leadership to get on board with the majority of Americans who already favor balanced immigration reform.

Our Republican representatives need to act by either offering their own bill or passing the Senate’s. After the government shutdown and debt ceiling debacle, bipartisan immigration reform is one issue on which we can and should come together.

Grace Chisholm, Denver

This letter was published in the Oct. 26 edition.

For information on how to send a letter to the editor, click here. Follow eLetters on Twitter to receive updates about new letters to the editor when they’re posted.

Guidelines: The Post welcomes letters up to 150 words on topics of general interest. Letters must include full name, home address, day and evening phone numbers, and may be edited for length, grammar and accuracy.

To reach the Denver Post editorial page by phone: 303-954-1331

Recent Comments

peterpi: I think I have this correct: Voters in Jefferson County elected school board members that the superintendent...

peterpi: Sounds good to me. For future employees. I believe police and fire dept. brass have also been known to get...